Aromatherapy, commonly associated with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), is the use of volatile liquid plant materials, known as essential oils (EOs), and other aromatic compounds from plants to affect someone's mood or health.
•Clinical aromatherapy (as part of pharmacology and pharmacotherapy)
•Aromachology (the psychology of odors and their effects on the mind)
Some of the materials employed include:
Essential oils: Fragrant oils extracted from plants chiefly through distillation (e.g. eucalyptus oil) or expression (grapefruit oil). However, the term is also occasionally used to describe fragrant oils extracted from plant material by any solvent extraction.
Absolutes: Fragrant oils extracted primarily from flowers or delicate plant tissues through solvent or supercritical fluid extraction (e.g. rose absolute). The term is also used to describe oils extracted from fragrant butters, concretes, and enfleurage pommades using ethanol.
Phytoncides: Various volatile organic compounds from plants that kill microbes. Many terpene based fragrant oils and sulfuric compounds from plants in genus "Allium" are Phytoncides, though the latter are likely less commonly used in aromatherapy due to their disagreeable smells.
Hydrosols: The aqueous by-products of the distillation process (e.g. rosewater). Hydrosol used are limited to plants such as rose and camomile since most hydrosols have unpleasant smells.
Infusions: Aqueous extracts of various plant material (e.g. infusion of chamomile)
Carrier oils: Typically oily plant base triacylglycerides that are used to dilute essential oils for use on the skin (e.g. sweet almond oil)
Below is a list of articles with the most recent ones listed first.
There are deep and mysterious relationships among the soil, water, sunlight, and air, and the bodies of plants that absorb and transform these elements. There are wondrous alchemies in the transmutation of these elements by plants into foods, medicines, and fragrances.
Lavender is one of the most well-known, versatile, and extensively used essential oils in the world. When we use this essential oil we receive the blessings of the feminine, because lavender could be described as an angel of healing from the floral realm, and an expression of the earth’s compassion....
The next time you stop to smell a rose, imagine that its deep, rich floral fragrance is a gift from nature to your heart and soul. In her generosity, the earth has blessed us with over five thousand varieties of this beautiful flower. However, only a few give the world-renowned treasure sought by p...
Frankincense is highly valued for its medicinal powers. Oleoresins are a part of a tree’s immune system, secreted to protect it from herbivores, insects, and fungal pathogens. Resins also speed the healing of wounds to the tree, which is why the sap flows when the bark is cut. In a similar way, fran...
Like scented stars appearing in the evening dusk, the night-blooming jasmine silently opens her five-petalled blossoms beneath our windows. In the dawn her sister will bloom, again filling the breeze with enchantment. Together, the jasmine sambac (night-blooming) and the jasmine grandiflorum (dawn-b...
Frankincense and myrrh are without a doubt the world’s two most important resins. Although other resins, such as pine, copal, styrax, and dragon blood have played important roles in ethnobotanical medicine, none have been as widely distributed and universally utilized, as economically important, or ...
Bakul (Mimusops elengi), champa (Michelia champaka), and parijata (Nychanthes arbotristis) are among the most beautiful and sacred of India’s many exotic flowering trees. Countless souls throughout the ages have lived in the gentle presence of these beneficent beings that give their barks, leaves, r...
Every plant absorbs the prana (life force) and ojas (nutritive essence) of the soil into its body, transforming them into foods, medicines, and oils for the benefit of other beings. Yet none capture the subtle complexities of the earth’s mysterious fragrances as completely as vetiver grass, known in...
In its intelligence and compassion, the earth provides a multitude of solutions to the pain and suffering that are part of life. Helichrysum and chamomile are two botanical emissaries that bring us this compassion in the form of fragrant essences. Offering their aromatic oils, they ease the pain of ...
Neroli is a fragrance that has been known and loved for centuries throughout the Mediterranean region. Generation after generation of skilled distillers have slowly extracted the oil from the tender flowers, creating one of the world’s finest and most sought after perfumes. Every spring, the delecta...
There is something slightly erotic about this bean, and I suspect that its sensuous skin, tantalizing aroma, and succulent flavor are affecting the neurochemistry of my perception. It is, after all, a seed pod, a reproductive organ of a jungle orchid, whose name is derived from the Spanish translati...
The cymbopogons are a genus of aromatic grasses which grow in tropical and subtropical regions around the world. Many people have met the refreshing and therapeutic flavors and fragrances of these grasses without knowing what they are or the many benefits they provide. When you enjoy the delicious t...
From the quiet of the high mountains and Mediterranean hillsides comes a plant with beautiful lavender-pink flowers resembling heart-shaped swans, offering its aromatic oil as an antidote to the suffering of agitated fatigue. Clary sage (Salvia sclarea) received its Latin name from the word clarus, ...
The anti-microbial actions of essential oils are one of the most extensively studied aspects of botanical medicine. Research into the antiseptic properties of essential oils has been going on since the 1880’s, starting with oils such as oregano, cinnamon, and clove. By the 1930’s a considerable amou...
This paper presents a brief overview of current research into the effects of fragrance on consciousness. It specifically examines the benefits of using essential oils for treating neurological degeneration and chemo-sensory disorders, enhancing concentration, memory, and learning, assisting relaxati...
Essential oil-containing aromatic plants have been used for anti-infectious purposes for millennia. The unpleasant odors of sewage, rotting garbage, sick people, and environmental pollution reveal the presence of proliferating microbial toxins. Without knowing the details of what pathogenic agents w...
Published: Wednesday 18 October, 2006
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